Obon is a Japaneses Buddhist custom to honor the Spirits of the ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a summer holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes lively folk dancing known as Bon-Odori.
The festival ends with Toro Nagashi, or the floating of lanterns. Paper lanterns are illuminated and then floated down rivers to guide the ancestors return to the spirits world.
The St.Louis Bon oodri troupe performs at the Japaneses festival
Bon Odori, meaning simply Bon dance is a style of dancing performed during Obon. Originally a folk dance to welcome the spirits of ancestors. Each region or city has a local dance, as well as different music and St.Louis is no exception. The Bon dance will look and sound different from region to region. Hokkaido is known for a folk-song known as " Soran Bushi." The song "Tokyo Ondo" ( a staple at annual St.Louis festival ) takes its namesake from the capital of Japan.
Bon dance involves people lining up in a circle around a high wooden stage made especially for the festival called a yagura.The yagura is usually also the bandstand for the musicians and singers of the Obon music.
The dance of a region can depict the area's history and specialization. For example, the movements of the dance of the Tanko Bushi (the "coal mining song") of Kyūshū show the movements of digging, cart pushing and lantern hanging, Wile "St.Louis Ondo" is sung to Meat me in St.Louis and shows people enjoying a day at the Arch.
There are other ways in which a regional Bon dance can vary. Some dances involve the use of different kinds of fans, others involve the use of small towels called tenugui which may have colorful designs. Some require the use of small wooden clappers. The "Hanagasa Odori" of Yamagata is performed with a straw hat that has been decorated with flowers. Always a crowd favorite at the St.Louis Japanese festival.
The music that is played during the Bon dance is not limited to traditional folk songs some modern hits and kids' tunes are also used. The "Pokemon Ondo" ( vary popular in St.Louis) was used as one of the ending theme songs for the anime series in Japan.
The Bon dance tradition is said to have started in the later years of the thirteen hundreds as a public entertainment. In the course of time, the original religious meaning has faded, and the dance has become associated with summer.
Comments
Post a Comment